


Unconditionally

by LandOfMistAndSecrets



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Azure Moon Route, Bottom Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Kink Meme, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Canon, Post-Time Skip, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Kisses, for once in my life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LandOfMistAndSecrets/pseuds/LandOfMistAndSecrets
Summary: In the aftermath of the war, Dimitri has taken the throne, and his beloved Dedue is ever by his side -- but there are things Dedue still doesn't know about the time Dimitri spent in the slums, about the lowest points of his life -- things that put distance between them that Dimitri knows should not be there.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 5
Kudos: 91





	Unconditionally

**Author's Note:**

> [Written for this kink meme prompt here](https://3houseskinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/476.html?thread=285404#cmt285404)
> 
> Dimitri talks frankly about being sexually assaulted by multiple NPCs after his escape from Fhirdiad's prison. Please do not read this if you are sensitive to depictions of sexual violence.

If there was such a thing as perfect contentment, Dimitri was reasonably certain he had found it here: lingering abed late into the morning, enclosed in the warm circle of Dedue's sheltering arms. Their breaths came slow and even, perfectly synced, and here, alone, Dedue let his hands and fingers wander as he never would in public, rubbing slow, soothing shapes into Dimitri's back with his thumbs. His gentle, calloused fingers traced along the lines of puckered scars thick and thin, digging expertly into knots of hard, sore muscle, working out aches and pains Dimitri had not even realized he suffered from until he breathed easier in their absence. He turned his face into Dedue's neck, breathing in clean, earthy scents -- and beneath that, something muskier, temptingly masculine, stirring the lazy current of his own desire. 

His body responded, and for once, Dimitri did not fight that telltale tightening in his belly, and the way his heartbeat quickened, ah, it was only hopeful excitement, cautious desire, light and free of any fear at all. 

As always, Dedue read him easily, plucking thoughts from his mind like fruit from a tree. 

"You seem particularly well, this morning," he said, and Dimitri smiled against his skin, snuggling closer, appreciating as ever the way his deep baritone voice rumbled out of him.

"Do I?" he murmured, softly. "If that is so, I have your influence to thank for it." 

"Your Majesty," Dedue sighed, and when Dimitri stiffened against him, he brought one hand soothingly up to stroke through his hair. "...Dimitri," he corrected, quieter, as though he feared the prying ears of servants at the door. "You give me too much credit." 

"And grant myself too little, I know," Dimitri laughed against him, having heard this lecture so often he could quote it in full. "Even so." He lifted his chin and turned his face, and when he raised a hand to rest his fingers gently against Dedue's cheek, the pleasure of watching his rich, dark eyes widen in wonder stirred yet more sweet, wanting heat within him. "You always seem so surprised," Dimitri murmured, turning his fingers to brush the backs of his knuckles along the rough, wiry shadow of Dedue's morning stubble, tracing a path up the strong line of his jaw. 

Dedue colored prettily, a rosy blush lighting his dark skin with pink undertones, and caught Dimitri's wandering hand in his, threading their fingers close. "To find myself waking in your bed, you mean," he clarified. 

Dimitri nodded. "And, of course, each time you uncover some new, undeniable evidence that I actually do want you here," he added, and now he was only teasing. Dedue sighed at him, even as a fond little smile curled the corners of his lips. 

"I fear it may remain... surprising, for some time," he warned. He brushed Dimitri's hair back from his face, and then let his fingertips rest on the faint worry lines at his brow, tracing them, his touch light. "Something still troubles you," he noted. "Tell me." 

Dimitri smoothed his brow at once, and smiled. "It is no trouble," he promised. "It is only that as much as I enjoy this, I..." he flushed, then, dropping his eyes. "I think, today, I am..." he paused, uncertain. 

Dedue made a soft humming sound, and nodded. "You are safe with me, Your Highness," he encouraged, unnecessarily, as though it could ever be in doubt. It pulled at Dimitri's heart, the thought that Dedue might think his hesitance had anything at all to do with trust. 

"I know," he said, just a touch sharply. Dedue gave him a mild, patient sort of look, and Dimitri flushed again, his heart in his throat. "I would like to..." he gave Dedue a helpless look. "Kiss me," he demanded, then, because it was easier, less vulnerable than merely expressing a desire and hoping it would be fulfilled.

He saw Dedue's lips twitch, his amused little smirk there and gone in an instant. "Of course," he said, and then he shifted himself and Dimitri too, turning them together to lean over him and kiss him, deep and long and thorough. Dimitri made a soft, happy sound into his mouth, and then dragged his fingers up into his hair, working through what remained of Dedue's braids from the night before. In truth, most had come fully undone, but those few that half remained fell easily apart in his hands, until he could gather great handfuls of his thick, beautiful hair in his fingers, tugging and pulling and running his fingertips up against his scalp. Dedue made deep, pleased sounds atop him, deepening his kisses, and when Dimitri felt his cock stir a warning against his stomach, he arched his back and pressed the evidence of his arousal against the broad, muscled expanse of Dedue's belly, inviting yet more gentle attention, there. 

Dedue was careful, as always. He pressed his palm flat against Dimitri's chest, and leaned in to whisper in his ear -- "If it is too much, please..." 

"Of course," Dimitri panted up at him, squirming, desperate. 

Dedue let his hand trail downward, over Dimitri's abdomen, pausing to trace over telltale scars there, too. He met his eyes, questioning. 

"More," Dimitri whispered, his voice thick. Dedue nodded, his expression soft and sweet, desire in the shine of his attentive gaze, concern in the tense line of his shoulders, the slight downward pull of his mouth. Carefully, he caught his thumbs in Dimitri's nightclothes, sliding them slowly down over his hips. Dimitri lifted his backside to expediate the process, and Dedue let out a soft, appreciative sound as he exposed him in full. Dimitri looked away when his cock sprang free, embarrassed despite Dedue's praise. "More," he said again, his voice firmer, surer, and obediently, Dedue smoothed his palms down over his hips, onto his thighs. He applied gentle pressure there, suggestive without demanding, and Dimitri let himself move with it, let Dedue guide his legs open and his back down against the smooth sheets, let himself sigh with pleasure as Dedue removed the last of his clothing and set it carefully aside.

Somehow, even like this, he never felt truly exposed before Dedue, bare or vulnerable in that itching, guilty way that turned his thoughts to spirals of self loathing. His gaze was far too adoring, his touch far too gentle, his expression too full of love and care and concern to feel anything but vaguely embarrassed in the face of it. 

Searching his face, Dedue traced patterns on Dimitri's thighs with his thumbs. The want in his eyes was plain. Dimitri smiled up him, sinking back into the furs and pillows.

"Please, Dedue," he murmured. His cock throbbed, aching and wanting and yearning. 

Slowly, gently, Dedue circled the base with one hand, pressing against the underside with his thumb. He worked his way up the shaft, squeezing, stroking, lavishing attention upon every part of him from root to tip. Dimitri let out a pleased, quivering sigh and sank back into the pillows, legs wide, breathing deep and even, sinking into the hazy, warm pleasure of it, building in his middle and then spreading heat into all the rest of him, until his fingers and toes tingled with it, until his head filled with the sound of his own pounding heartbeat. 

"More," he said, after a time, and Dedue paused, leaving him squirming at the sudden lack of stimulation. He fluttered his eyes open, a furrow in his brow. "Dedue?" 

"Of course, Your Majesty," Dedue murmured, and then he sidled down the bed and bent the bulk of his body to press a kiss against each of Dimitri's bare, open thighs. His exploring hand slid beneath him and the bed, sliding past the hanging weight of his balls and into the crevice of his backside, searching. When he found what he was searching for, his fingertips brushed gently around the ring of puckered muscle, his face a mask of wonder and open, unchecked desire. The flush in his dark cheeks made Dimitri's heart flutter, as it always did. 

And the pressure at his hole made him freeze, eyes wide, muscles stiff. He sucked in a sharp breath, but Dedue had already stopped, reading the signs his body gave him. He pressed another kiss against Dimitri's thighs and raised his head, a question in his expression. 

"We needn't go any further," he spoke, breathlessly. 

Dimitri took a moment to catch his breath. Memories gathered up behind his eyelids, and accompanying words did the same behind his teeth. He kept his jaw clenched. Best not to speak of any of that. 

But of course, Dedue would have none of that. Slowly, his searching fingers and exploring hands withdrew, and once again, he crawled over him and pressed their bodies together, warm and close and comforting. "Your Majesty," he murmured in Dimitri's ear, the bed creaking beneath his weight as he resituated himself beside him. "Dimitri," he corrected himself, kissing beneath his earlobe.

Gods. He was so good, so kind, so patient with him. "I'm sorry, Dedue," he breathed, quietly. "You deserve better." 

"It is not a question of what I deserve," Dedue said, sharply. "I love you." He punctuated this with another kiss. Dimitri sighed, curling against him.

"Tell me," Dimitri said, after a short while spent simply breathing together. "Have you ever...?" 

Dedue did not laugh, but he did emit a soft, rebuking sort of snort that might have become one eventually, if he did not cut himself off so swiftly. "No," he said, clipped and perfunctory. "...Of course not," he added, sounding somewhat... wounded, of all things. As though Dimitri had accused him of betraying his trust! 

"No, no," Dimitri hastened to clarify, looking up into his eyes. "I would never have -- ah, Dedue, Goddess. Do you think that I am glad to hear it? That knowing -- _this_ is all the satisfaction you have known, when you deserve --" 

"Again," Dedue said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble, "It is not a question of what I deserve. Dimitri. I love you. I am happy simply to be here with you, overjoyed beyond words to know that my presence brings you comfort." 

"Your presence has always brought me comfort," Dimitri assured him. "And joy, as well. I love you, too, Dedue. More than anything. And I am sorry." 

"Do not apologize!" 

"You see, I do want you," Dimitri said, heedless, speaking quickly before he could lose his nerve entirely. "I think of it often, dream of it, fantasize about having you atop me, within me --" 

"Your Majesty," Dedue protested, weakly, his gaze sliding away, his face a wash of lovely rose. "Please." 

They fell into quiet together, and simply breathed. Dedue seemed to sense he had more to say, and his patience weathered away at his hesitance as the moments passed. 

"You see," Dimitri said, finally, his voice uncharacteristically small, "You would not be my first." 

Dedue nodded, as though he had expected it. "You cannot think I would hold that against you," he said, his expression suddenly and briefly pained. "Never."

"You may, if you knew the circumstances of it," Dimitri said, before he could lose his nerve, though once the words were out he wished quite desperately that he could take them back. The look Dedue gave him then was shrewd, sharp -- and kind, always so kind. 

"Even then," Dedue promised him. "It would not change my feelings." 

Dimitri nodded, chewing at his lip. "And if I never told you?" he wondered aloud. "If I said nothing, and left you like this, forever bereft and wondering --" 

"Dimitri," Dedue cut him off, and now his voice gained an edge, honed sharp by the hurt feelings that shone through his expression, loud and clear. "You are under no obligation. I love you exactly as you are, whatever has happened. Whatever you have done, whatever has been done to you..." his mouth twisted. Dimitri's heart sank. "I wish only that I had been there to prevent it all. I would shield you from all of it, all of the hurt, the pain, the guilt that you have carried. I would make it my own in a moment, if it were required of me to free you from it. But I cannot. So please." 

Dimitri's heart paused mid-plummet, frozen in his breast, and then he breathed out in a rush, and pressed himself tight against Dedue's body, hot tears pressing at the back of his eyes. Dedue's fingers came up to smooth through his hair, and Dimitri nodded against him. "Of course," he murmured. "Forgive me." 

"You are forgiven," Dedue murmured, instantly, warm and gentle and loving. 

"It was a choice that I made," Dimitri found himself saying, next. He swallowed, hard, letting his mind spool back to those blurry, fugue-filled days of hunting and foraging and merely surviving, a mad, wounded, heartbroken beast. "I thought you had died, you see." 

"I know," Dedue murmured. They had discussed this, at least, at length. 

"I did not think... I thought, with you gone..." he laughed, mirthlessly. "What was the point of anything? They put their hands on me, and I allowed it, because I thought -- the man I wished to share such things with was forever lost to me. What joy could I have ever gleaned from the act, considering that? I had waited so long, preserving myself for the sake of - what? Appearance? My future queen?" He shook his head. "In that moment, with you gone and the thought of ever taking the throne so far from my mind... what had I denied myself, for? What had I held myself back from you, for? I had wasted a year of opportunities for the sake of a future no longer available to me, and so, when they put their hands on me, I did not fight it." 

"...Imperials," Dedue suggested, a hard edge of iron in his voice. 

"No," Dimitri said, softly. Sadly. "Men of Faergus. They did not recognize me. They, too, were suffering, cast out of their homes by the encroaching flames of war. When ..." he paused. Swallowed hard again, his saliva thick in his mouth. "When the first took me, he put me on my knees, bent me forward, and whispered in my ear. They did not recognize me, no -- but they knew me for a noble, at the very least." He laughed, mirthless and hollow. "His own lord had fled his lands ahead of the imperial army. He left his peasants behind without a warning, simply to slow the enemy advance. The violence he suffered... his wife, and his children, as well. He told me of it while he took his... his revenge, I suppose. I would not call it pleasure." 

"You did not deserve it," Dedue said, his voice tight with emotion. "Not that. Never that. Dimitri." 

"I cannot even recall how many there were," he said, distantly. "I should be able to. I should be able to tell you now, their names, their stories -- but I cannot. When I think of that day, what I remember most clearly is how difficult it was to breathe around the pain." 

Dedue's arms tightened around him, and Dimitri realized how he must have sounded, what Dedue must have heard. He shook his head. "Not of that. I barely felt it, by the third or fourth. It was the pain in my head, in my chest, that made it so. I could barely see, and you -- you had been --" he shook his head, harder. "I ached so badly from your loss, I hoped they would kill me, when they were done."

"Please don't say such things," Dedue murmured against his hair. "I should have been there."

"But they were no murderers," Dimitri sighed. "They fled when they were done, and I do not even know how long I remained there, half nude, filthy with mud and their leavings, afterward." He shrugged, but the movement of it was barely perceptible. Dedue held him too tightly, for that. "I could have killed them, I suppose," he murmured. "If they had been imperials, or even just -- men I recognized, from the capital, in the service of that woman -- I would have, I have no doubt. But... is it strange for me to say that I am glad I let them live?" He lifted his head, searching Dedue's eyes. "Even if I did not... _deserve..._ " 

"You did _not,_ " Dedue said, firmly.

"Worse things happened to so many," Dimitri said. "It is selfish to wallow so on my own memories, my own hurts, and yet --" 

"Selfish," Dedue repeated, his mouth twisting. "Selfish. Dimitri. You are not selfish. Listen to me." He sat up, then, and took Dimitri's hands in his, squeezing tight. "You are a good man. A kind man. A man worthy of love and of loyalty, a man I am proud to have sworn my life and my heart to. I will love you until the day I die. I have no reservations. There are no conditions. And I will have no regrets." He gripped Dimitri's chin tight in his hands, forcing his face up, searching for his eyes and capturing them with the intensity of his gaze. "I love you," he repeated, and the shine in his eyes -- and Dimitri gasped, realizing that they were tears. 

"Don't," he pleaded, grabbing Dedue's face in his hands, brushing his thumbs beneath his eyes to catch those drops as they fell. "I love you, as well. Deeply, eternally, Dedue..." he took a deep, shuddering breath. "If you can be patient, just a little while longer --" 

"Dimitri," Dedue sighed. "My king." He shook his head. "My love," he amended. "I will wait as long as you require. When you are ready for me, I will be here. And if you never wish to take this further --" 

"Dedue," Dimitri protested. 

Dedue held up a hand. "I will be here still. Always. Tell me you understand." 

"I understand," Dimitri said, obediently, though in truth, he did not. 

Dedue sighed at him, for he knew him well enough to hear the truth. "Dimitri," he said, quietly, pulling him close once more. 

"Dedue," Dimitri agreed, snuggling close, wrapping his arms about him, letting the warmth of his body leech into his own, filling him with tingling contentment down to his curling toes. "Thank you," he breathed, softly. 

"Of course," Dedue murmured, breathy and gentle in his ear. "Rest, now. I'll be here, when you wake." 

Dimitri laughed, nuzzling into his neck, nodding against him. "Of course," he agreed. "If I didn't think so, I doubt I would ever sleep at all." 

"That is hardly comforting, Your Majesty," Dedue chastised, his tone tired and impossibly fond in equal measure. Even so, Dimitri barely heard him. His breaths came slow, deep and even, and he allowed himself to sink into foggy, half-remembered dreams, safe and warm in the arms of the man he cherished above all others.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on twitter: [@landofsmthsmth](https://twitter.com/landofsmthsmth)


End file.
